Georgia
Show over. A UGA student said he was having fun busking in Athens Saturday night, until a woman determined to touch his piano ruined the performance for everyone.
Caught on camera: performer’s piano smashed, tips stolen
It shows a woman smashing a University of Georgia student’s piano as he performed on the street over the weekend.
ATHENS, Ga. – A video gone viral shows a University of Georgia student street performing in Athens over the weekend until a woman walked up to and knocked his keyboard over.
Andrew Hsu’s performance of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” hit a low note when the woman interrupted. The video shows her slamming her hand down on his keyboard, causing the stand that was holding it up to collapse.
The moment left him stunned.
(Credit: TheAndrewShoe, TikTok)
“It happens often where drunk people will come down and touch my piano and stuff like that, but never to the point where it will fall down and with the force that she used,” he said.
Apparently, it wasn’t her first time.
Earlier in the night, Hsu says the woman hit his keyboard before coming back around 2:30 a.m. Saturday near the corner of College Avenue and East Clayton Street.
(Credit: TheAndrewShoe, TikTok)
“To come out here and do this, and someone to mess it up is just not like a cool thing to do,” Hsu said.
Hsu says not only did she knock down his piano and break his stand, but he believes she also grabbed money from his tip bucket.
“That’s what gets me mad,” he said. “I’m like ‘Yo, what are you doing?’ One of her friends comes back. I’m like, ‘Did you just steal money from me?’ And her friend says, ‘Yeah, she did.’”
Hsu filed an Athens Police report Monday and posted a TikTok that quickly went viral.
Police say several “internet sleuths” tracked down the suspect before a report was filed. The suspect’s identity has been confirmed, and detectives “are reviewing the case.”
“I’m just aiming to show her that actions have consequences, and that she needs to be held accountable for what she did,” Hsu said.
Hsu says he plays for fun, and he will be back out in the next few days.
FOX 5 reporter Tyler Fingert was able to reach the woman involved. She told him she did not steal any money and has apologized. She says she also sent him money to pay for a new stand.